Carlos Sainz is quite positive about his chances at the Hungarian GP, as the track should suit his car, but the Spaniard was also keen to emphasize that it's not all about the Reds' pace, as getting the basics about strategy and race operation right is just as important.
Carlos Sainz is very positive about his chances at the Hungarian GP, as the track should suit his car, but the Spaniard was also keen to emphasize that it's not all about the pace of the Reds, as getting the basics of strategy and race operation right is just as important.It's not all about the Reds' pace, as getting the basics about strategy and race operation right is just as important.
"We need that," he said when asked about the importance of having a clean weekend at the Hungaroring, "But everybody needs a clean weekend, I think. We all strive for clean weekends. In F1 they are harder to achieve than people think."
"We still have a long year ahead of us and as we have seen this year, anything can happen in any race and it has been a year of ups and downs for everyone. Even if the top four are consistent, the outcome of the weekend is almost never what you expect. There's still a lot to play for and a lot to do."
Hungary's lack of a long straight and many corners in sequence are expected to play in the Reds' favor, along with the fact that they have a slightly better qualifying record than the Bulls, with Saturday's grid order proving influential in Sunday's result.
"I'm confident that we can fight for that win this weekend and that we can put together a solid weekend like we did in Austria and France," said Sainz. "With each race, I am feeling more comfortable in the car, and the race pace in France was good, in Austria as well. The qualifying pace in France was good, especially in Q2. I think we have the ingredients, we just need to get everything right on Sunday."
Sainz has one win and one pole position this year, but his teammate Charles Leclerc has been prolific on Saturdays in particular, with seven poles in 12 race weekends. And Leclerc wants to have a strong result this weekend to erase his mistake in France, which cost him a lot of points and saw Max Verstappen take a wide lead in the drivers' championship.
The Monegasque driver admitted that after the mistake in Paul Ricard, he went straight back to his usual routine and spent the week preparing for this race. And the good news for Reds fans is that he also thinks they have a strong chance of victory on Sunday.
"Normally it should be a track where we should be strong, yes," Leclerc said, adding that his ideal scenario would be to finish in P1 in all sessions starting on Friday.
But the only thing he may have to think about are the tactics, with the even grid positions being on the clean side of the track.
"I don't know," he said with a laugh when it was pointed out that P2 might be a better starting position. "I didn't think much about it at the weekend, but we'll see on Saturday."